Rocketship Education Leads Us Way To Equality

What does equality mean to you? When we hear the word equality, we tend to primarily associate it with civil rights. We often see communities come together to push for change and equality in reference to job wages, civil liberties and marriage rights, but what about education.

Education is one of the most troubled areas in our society in terms of equality. Often times, factors such as financial status, residential location, and even transportation play a role in the quality of education a family has access to. Education enthusiast in California believes that all children deserve the right to quality education, regardless of factors outside of their families control.

For many low-income families, options for education are few. Families are often forced to send their children to the local school, which typically falls far below the state average. This can be discouraging to both students and families, thus having a negative effect on the child’s performance both in and out of the classroom. Understanding the need for change within their community, businessmen John Danner and Preston Smith founded Rocketship Education in 2006, in San Jose, California. As a network of public charter schools, Rocketship Education aims to serve families in low-income communities by providing access to quality education for all.

While Rocketship has made a tremendous impact on their communities, leaders say they have learned a few things themselves during their first decade. Most importantly, several changes have been made to create a more student based system. By focusing heavily on students and their needs, they have been able to strengthen their network of educators and resources. They also opted out of the traditional teacher hiring process and added parent interviews to the mix. In an effort to help build better parent and teacher relationships, Rocketship Education requires prospective teachers to participate in interviews with parents of the school during the selection process. Leaders say that parents thoughts and opinions are heavily considered and appreciated, and each plays a major role in selecting new educators.

What if the solution to ending world hunger was trapped in the mind of a low-income student? Every child deserves a chance to be great, and Rocketship Education is giving thousands of students and families that opportunity.